The Golden Dwarf
by Athelassa
Summary: What is the most fascinating thing about Legolas? His golden hair of course! The first meeting of Aragorn and Legolas


**The Golden Dwarf**

_By Athelas_

Summary: What is the most fascinating thing about Legolas? His golden hair of course! The first meeting of Aragorn and Legolas

Genre: Humour (Non-Slash)

Rating: G

Disclaimer: All of the characters in this story belong to J.R.R Tolkien whom I admire greatly. It is his masterpiece, I only lend his characters for my own pleasure, not for money.

Status: Complete

A/N: I am one of the non-native English speakers here on and because I translated this story, which also exists in German, during the last three hour or so, I am sure there are some mistakes in it. I hope you don't mind. ;)

This story was written for a challenge in Elronds Haus.

It was by nightfall when the Fellowship finally decided to stop for a rest under a few trees between two hills. The march had been long and tiresome, although it had only been three days since they had left Rivendell. The Fellowship was still divided into groups, trust and camaraderie were only a tender bond yet. The Hobbits sat by themselves and they looked weary. That means: everyone besides Pippin.

Aragorn had only just returned from gathering wood and began to kindle a fire when his roaming gaze suddenly found the young Hobbit. Utterly fascinated, Pippin stared at Legolas, who noticed it but gave no outward sign.

Aragorn slightly shook his head and grinned. The awe for the Elves still seemed to captivate the young Hobbit, although he should have had enough time to gawk at Elves in Rivendell. But Pippin still stared until Legolas finally turned around to face the Hobbit with a sigh.

„Yes, Pippin, do you want to tell me something of great importance?"

„No, not really," answered the Hobbit. "But your hair… it shines as if made of gold! How is that possible?"

A sudden smirk appeared on the Elf's fair features and there was a mischievous glint in his eyes as he moved his gaze to Aragorn, who nearly groaned with exasperation.

_'Why do I have the feeling that I know where all of this is leading to…?'_

Legolas fought the grin back but the impish glint in his eyes remained.

"You know, Peregrin, you are not the first one who was amazed by the colour of my hair."

While he said that, his gaze never left Aragorn's face. The Ranger only shook his head in a threatening manner, an unmistakeable sign for the Elf to shut his mouth.

But Pippin did not even acknowledge Aragorn but still hang on each of Legolas' words, spellbound.

"Really? Who was it that already asked because of your hair? And why?"

As inconspicuous as possible, Aragorn stepped beside the two of them and produced a blanket out of Pippin's pack.

"I do not think now is the right time to tell long tales, Pippin. It is already late and we will have a long way to go tomorrow."

"Why shouldn't it be the right moment for tales?" a new voice asked. Aragorn turned around and saw that Gandalf was listening intently as well, a broad smile on his face. Only now the Ranger noticed that Legolas had caught the attention of all the other companions as well and everyone was curiously following the conversation. Aragorn sighed desperately.

_‚Why am I always being haunted by this little tale? Is it not enough when my Elvish brothers tease me with it all the time? And why cannot this Elf just keep his mouth shut?'_

But Legolas did not even think of shutting his mouth but began to recount the story.

".".".".".".

With a letter of his father in his pack, Legolas set out on his journey in the year 2937 of the Third Age to bring Lord Elrond of Rivendell a message of his father, King Thranduil. A long friendship connected the two kingdoms and Legolas was looking forward to seeing the sons of Lord Elrond again after a very long time.

Slowly his horse waded through the water of the Bruinen and jumped up the embankment on the other side, when a high children's voice halted him right in his steps.

„What are you doing here?"

Astonished, Legolas turned around but he saw no one. For a long time already, there dwelled no Elflings in Rivendell anymore, so who could this be?

"Is it not impolite to greet a guest thusly? Show yourself!", Legolas said loudly.

He was surprised all the more when he saw a small boy walk out of the bushes above him, a tiny bow in his hands. Even though the weapon was obviously only a toy, the boy held it with great experience. And he aimed directly at Legolas.

The Elf was not overly worried about it. The tip of the arrow on the bow was rounded and he doubted that the child would have enough strength to bend the bow properly. Instead of eyeing the weapon, he began to watch the boy up and down. With a bit of a surprise he noticed that it was a human child, no Elfling, and he seemed to be around six years old. Still, he wore the garments of an Elf, richly decorated with embroidery. The dark, untamed hair fell in his face and the look on his features was deadly serious. The most fascinating thing, however, were the eyes of the young boy. Silvery, sparkling eyes which showed a determination Legolas had never seen before in a being so young. Even though he had to admit that he had never met a human child of this age.

„I do not believe that you are a guest," the boy said and lifted his bow.

"And why do you not believe me? I can show you the letter of my father for the Lord of Rivendell."

Legolas wanted to reach into his pack and show the letter when something hard hit him on his hand. With a surprised yelp he pulled his hand backed and gazed at the boy with a shocked expression on his face. With the quickness of a hunter, the child had already a new arrow bent on his bow.

„Do not go into the pocket with your hands," the boy commanded.

Legolas had very nearly laughed out aloud because of the suspicion in the young one's voice. He could not help it, but he wondered all the more, who this little lad was.

"Do you live around here?" Legolas asked as noncommittal as possible and hoped to win over the trust of the boy. Perhaps he was lost in the woods and his parents already missed him.

The boy only lifted his chin stubbornly.

„Ada told me not to talk to strangers."

Legolas felt his jaw go slack. Then the child lived in Rivendell and was possibly raised by Elves! Who else called his father Ada? Slowly the Elf worked through his astonishment.

„But you first talked to me, not I to you. I only want to pass by because I need to see Elrond, the Lord of Rivendell."

The lad did not answer and Legolas was already tempted to just give up and leave him behind when he heard the sound of light foot steps. An instant later a tall figure with long dark hair and likewise a bow in hand walked out of the bushes. Legolas immediately recognised Elrohir, one of the twin sons of Elrond. Elrohir did not even notice Legolas but instantly walked to the small boy and went down to one knee, so their heads were at the same height. He grabbed the lad at the shoulders.

„Estel! What did I tell you about running away? You should not walk away like that, what would have happened if you had gotten lost?"

The boy called Estel seemed to lose all of his hostile bearing and meekly looked to the ground.

"I… I didn't want to have you worried. But there was a rabbit and I wanted to chase it! But it was so quick! And then I have seen _him_!"

A small hand pointed accusingly at Legolas and Elrohir's countenance lightened up right away when he recognised the Prince of Mirkwood. Legolas dismounted and pulled Elrohir in a tight hug.

„Legolas, it fills my heart with joy to see you again!"

The fair haired Elf smiled happily.

"Yes, it has been too long. Where is your brother?"

Elrohir smiled somewhat embarrassedly.

"He is still desperately looking for Estel. We were training with the bow when a messenger rode into Rivendell and we left this little lad alone for only a short moment but when we got back he was already gone."

Elrohir looked again at Estel with mild reproach in his gaze and the small boy blushed a deep red.

„Then you look after him?", Legolas asked with surprise. "You have taken in a human in your household?"

"Yes, my friend," a new voice sounded behind them and when Legolas turned around, he saw Elladan step around a tree. "He is now our little brother, aren't you, little cub?"

Estel squealed with delight when Elladan threw him in the air with a quick motion and the boy started to wriggle like mad.

"But you seem to have introduced yourself to each other already," Elladan said with Estel still in his arms.

Legolas failed to come up with an answer and Estel grew suspiciously quiet, too, and began to stare to the ground.

Elrohir noticed that something was going on and he turned to Legolas.

"You have introduced yourself, didn't you?"

Legolas shrugged uncomfortably.

"Well, truth to be told, your brother did not want to talk to me and he hindered me to go on. Ehm… with his bow."

„Estel!" both twins exclaimed with identical voices and a sudden smile sprang to Legolas' lips. It was amazing how similar the two of them acted. Sometimes they gave the illusion that they were in truth only one being split in two bodies.

Elladan und Elrohir both looked at Estel with reprimand in their gazes.

"Why did you do that? You know that you shouldn't aim at people even though it is only a training bow. And what did you think? He is a guest."

Estel sniffed quietly and it was clear that he was close to tears.

"But… but… he has golden hair!" he finally choked out.

Legolas stared at Estel as if he had grown a second head and the twins looked flabbergast, too. Estels eyes had widened to two big round orbs and he looked from one face to the other, as if he had just given the most logical explanation in the world.

"What does this have to do with the fact that you would not let him pass?" Elladan asked cautiously.

The boy squirmed under the stares of the three Elves and he played with Elladan's hair, who still held him on his arm until his big brother loosened the tiny fist around the locks and put him to the ground.

"Estel, why is it bad that Legolas has blonde hair?"

"Not blonde hair. Golden hair…" the boy softly murmured. "Ada told me a Good-night story of the Dwarves yesterday evening. They have stolen many things. Gold, too. Then… then I thought… that he is maybe…" he pointed with his small hand at Legolas, "that he is maybe…"

For one moment the three Elves stared at the boy with identical expressions of unbelief and it was suspiciously quiet in the woods. Suddenly a smile played on Elladan's lips and soon grew into a full-fledged grin.

„That he is a Dwarf?" he finally asked with big innocent eyes and shot Legolas an amused look. The _golden _haired Elf did not look nearly as enthusiastic to be compared with a Dwarf and still stared at Estel with big eyes. Beside him, Elrohir coughed conspicuously and Legolas saw that the twins bit down hard not to laugh out loud.

The boy did not seem to notice the amusement of his two brothers but only nodded shyly as an answer to Elladan's question. After a short moment of hesitation Estel continued.

„And that the gold on his head, that he has perhaps… yes… that he has maybe…"

"That he has stolen it?" Elrohir helpfully suggested, barely able to hold back his laughter. Estel nodded again and the twins both very nearly forgot to breathe in an attempt to bite back their mirth. Legolas looked, as if someone had emptied a bucket of ice cold water above his head.

"Well, then let me sum up, little brother," Elladan said between the giggling of his twin brother. "You did not let Legolas pass because he is a Dwarf and he has stolen the gold because he wanted to make a wig out of it for himself, right?"

Elrohir could not hold back his mirth anymore and burst out laughing loudly. His twin brother immediately joined in and only now Estel hesitantly risked a glance off the ground. A small smile came to his lips when he noticed the laughter of his brother and his timid mood was gone. Both of the twins were laughing so hard that tears streamed down their cheeks. Although the boy was still unsure about the reason why his brothers were that amused but he was glad they were not mad at him anymore. Seemingly he had even said something funny. The smile on his face grew to a happy giggle and he looked still somewhat shyly at the strange "Dwarf" beside him. Even though his brothers seemed to like him, he looked quite dark and threatening at the moment. What could be the reason for that?

„Perhaps the two of you have not noticed before but if you are trying to spoil the child you are doing a fine job", Legolas grumbled irritably but in his eyes glimmered a merry sparkle and the etch of his mouth was twitching slightly. He noticed the boy looking up to him and he secretly winked at him. Estel grinned back and then sprang to Elrohir to attack his brother's leg in a mock fight. The younger twin wiped the tears from his eyes and lifted the boy in his arms.

„Look Estel" he said to the struggling child in his arms, "although your theory about the Dwarf with the stolen gold sounds very convincing to me, I must disappoint you. This is Legolas, an Elf of Mirkwood. We have already been on many adventures together."

Estel instantly stopped wriggling when he heard that the being was not a Dwarf and started to look at Legolas more intently.

"But why are his hair made of gold?" he finally asked.

„All of the Mirkwood Elves have fair hair. Legolas' parents both have golden hair so he has golden hair, too. Such as you have dark hair because your parents had dark hair. Do you understand?"

Estel nodded und stuck a finger in his mouth, his head held at an angle while he was captivated by the golden locks.

"But you do know Elves with golden hair, Estel", Elladan said. "Glorfindel has golden hair, too."

The boy started to shake his head violently.

"No, Glorfindel has hair like straw, not like gold."

The three Elves changed amused looks and grinned broadly.

"Perhaps we should not tell that Glorfindel," Legolas whispered to Elladan and the other Elf started laughing again.

Estel still gazed intently at Legolas' hair and finally asked shyly, „May I touch it?"

Legolas looked at the twins for help and his eyes were pleading to forbid it but Elrohir only encouraged obligingly, "Of course you may, Estel."

Legolas shot him a dangerous glare but the younger twin only smiled innocently. Elrohir stepped nearer to the Prince with Estel in his arms and the little boy reached out his hand, which had only recently stuck in his mouth. Long threads of drool dribbled down the fingers when he grabbed for Legolas' hair. The Prince could do nothing else than close his eyes in horror.

„It is soft!" Estel squealed with delight and pulled on a few strands.

But Elrohir shook his head chidingly.

"No, Estel, don't."

However, the boy did not even think of letting go and when he pulled the hand back with a forceful tug, a bunch of hair remained in the closed fist.

„Ow!" Legolas yelped and reached for his head, but it was too late. Full of awe, Estel gazed at the tuft of hair in his hand, eyes shining brightly.

"That wasn't nice, little brother", Elladan chided softly, but there was more amusement in his voice than real reproach.

"Well, we should be heading back now, then you can tell Ada of your newest conquest," Elrohir said and put the boy down on the ground. Estel immediately took off to Rivendell. "But don't run away again!"

"Isn't he cute?" Elladan asked and his eyes were filled with warmth and love.

"Well, yes, he is," Legolas agreed and rubbed his hurting scalp.

".".".".".".

The Fellowship was gathered more closely around Legolas while the Elf had been telling the story. Of course everyone except Aragorn. The Hobbits were laughing quietly and even Boromir and Gimli wore smiles on their faces.

Pippin tried to touch the golden hair as well, but Legolas adamantly refused.

"No, this time I certainly will not play along."

„Who was this boy? Do we know him," Merry asked suddenly and Aragorn flinched as if someone had dealt him a blow. This was the dreaded question. He shot Legolas a pleading look over the fire but the Elf only grinned broadly.

"Yes, I wanted to come back to it, because that is the best part of the story. Of course you know the boy."

The Hobbits moved even closer so they nearly sat on Legolas' lap but the Elf waited until the tension almost got unbearable.

„Well? Who is he?" Pippin finally asked because he could not hold back himself anymore.

"Aragorn. The boy was Aragorn when I met him for the first time."

All heads whipped around to stare at the serious and dignified Ranger, who turned an interesting shape of red under their stares. For a moment it was deadly quiet, then Gandalf began to laugh and everyone else except Aragorn joined in. The Ranger just shot the Elf a very dark look.

"I should have kept the bunch of hair and hung it on my pack as a trophy," he growled but a moment later, a small smile stole on his face and when the Fellowship burst out laughing again, he joined in.

** Z Ändi (**The End) ** Z Ändi **


End file.
